A lawyer coach shares career and business development advice, support and musings like lawyers used to share at the corner bar after work. Pull up a seat whenever you are free. Law students, new lawyers, solos, associates, partners, inhouse counsel...all are welcome here! Elizabeth Jolliffe, J.D., C.P.C.C.

Friday, December 4, 2009

As I entered recurring lawyer coaching appointments in Outlook well into 2010 for three new clients this week, I used my coaching color. In designer speak, it's a "warm" color. To me, it's a "happy" color. (Perhaps also a "hoppy" color.) It's also prevalent in my home.

As I see my calendar continue to fill with this color, I can easily assess the growth in my coaching practice over the past year. I can also easily compare it against the amount of green entries - - for obvious reasons - - for business development activities. The green quickly shows me when I spent a lot of time on business development, when there were lulls, and what lies ahead in 2010. Of course, because I enjoy these activities, they could be the happy color as well, or the coaching calls could be green. But systems help us stay organized and on track, and this one works for me. As these colors expand in my calendar, I see the benefits of what I've been doing and I keep moving forward.

So here are my questions for you: What colors do you want in your 2010 calendar? When will you start coloring?

Another good question comes from a discussion I had with one of my non-lawyer clients this week. She is a young engineer in a management position and we talked about delegation and developing a key direct report. Working with him on his role, she advised him to "do [this] and it will set you up for success the rest of the day." This struck me as so simple and yet so powerful that it felt like an absolute guarantee. I turned it around and asked what would set her up for success on her challenges every day. Since that conversation, I've used this process every morning myself. How about you? What thing can you do that will set you up for success the rest of the day?